Fire Warm
by Aimsaru
Summary: "They could ignite each other like a fuse and then stand still as the world exploded outwards, throwing them away from each other. And then, like magnets, they would come together again. Picking up the pieces and finding the comfort and warmth in each other's arms." Just a bit of exploration into Mako and Korra's volatile relationship. A bit of lightly smutty fluff.


A/N: this fic started out as a word-doodle with no direction that I would add to every few days. As my mood changed day-to-day so did the tone of the fic. The result is kind of a mish-mosh but maybe some Makorrians will like it (:

Fire warm.

When he's close to her she feels as though she is back home, cuddled around the hearth, waves of warmth spilling over her skin until she feels flushed. As a girl she always had a pattern of getting too close to the flames, until her skin was as red as the embers and she had to move away to seek some relief. Then, when the heat had seeped from her skin and her cheeks had returned to normal temperature, she would return, moving closer to the grate. Craving the warmth even if it occasionally became too much. Even if it sometimes burned.

Burned her like he did.

He was the perfect embodiment of his element. Like fire he could be soothing, entrancing, fearsome, fierce, devouring.

He was able to make her feel more alive, warming the parts of her that had long ago become icy with resolution and duty. He inspired new thoughts and ideas about the world, like sprouts growing from freshly turned soil.

He made her feel like a naïve little water tribe girl.

Other times he would set her ablaze until she wished for the cold relief of the tundra. His angry words and powerful stubbornness would burn away her flesh until she was little more than ash.

But _her_ element was water and like ripples disturbing the stillness of Yue Bay, she never suffered one feeling for long. Jumping from joy to anger and startling him into action until he was wrapping her up in his heat and she was suffering with the need for oxygen.

She was always surprised by how frigid and aloof he could be when the rest of him was so _scorching_.

But when he kissed her, Oh- the heat was positively volcanic. His lips would meld into hers, heating her up to the point of combustion and leaving her weak in the knees.

His tongue was sinful and he would take any available opportunity to slide it into her mouth, turning a chaste kiss into something rocketing with warmth. Her heart would pound in her chest, pulsing like the flickering of a flame until she never wanted to be extinguished.

He was overwhelming, all consuming. He had been ever since the night that they first met. That night when she had met the fire bender that she had been following on the Pro-bending radio cast.

When they had been introduced her body was filled with the warmth and fire of excitement, only to be left shivering in the wake of his icy words and demeanor. This is how it always was between them.

They could ignite each other like a fuse and then stand still as the world exploded outwards, throwing them away from each other.

And then, like magnets, they would come together again. Picking up the pieces and finding the comfort and warmth in each other's arms that they had so been lacking in the short amount of time that they were apart.

It wasn't always so volatile though.

There could be a peace when they were together. There was a deep understanding of the other person's base needs and a feeling of completion when together. They were both hot headed and stubborn but, often times, they were able to diffuse things before they went too far; dousing the flames in soothing waves that carried them back together. Their love was a current, a smoldering coal.

Often, the best moments were when they were just together, sitting quietly and reading or listening to the radio; Sparring or tumbling together playfully in the grass.

She would crack jokes and he would try not to laugh. He would hover and she would shove him away with a roll of cerulean eyes. He would try to be the cool-guy and she would try to break down his walls faster than he had time to reform them. She would try to rush things and he would remain level-headed and steadfast. They were good for each other.

The fire was inevitable, though_. Fire could burn but it could also purify. It could meld and shape, melt and infuse. _

It was a part of them both and even stronger when they were together.

Lately, their relationship had taken on a new tone. An electrical charge springing up under the constant ebb and flow from hot to cold. Korra was determined to explore it.

It happened _again_ at dinner.

A brush of fingertips when passing the bread and it begins. A shiver of electricity spreading just under her skin until goose bumps covered her arms and her senses were pushed into overdrive.

She wondered if he was affected, if he felt as if he too were rendered open, painfully exposed like a nerve and overly sensitive.

His expression was, as usual, eerily calm. His eyebrows drawn down over his eyes as if he was heavy in thought. It drove her _mad._

The bowl of rice was next, and this time she noted the glint in his eye as his hand rested over hers on the wooden bowl. Fingers falling between hers and lingering there until the tingles traveled up her arms and heated her chest before ricocheting down between her legs.

This time, his expression was open for whole seconds. He looked smug, as if he had seen the spike of lust, ripping through her like a missile and careening for her sex.

He winked at her and then his expression was shuttered again. Bemused and brooding.

She had never wanted to hit him so much in her life.

She really tried not to stomp too heavily into the kitchen when it was time to clean up and she tried her best to ignore him when he carried the plates to the sink, bumping her shoulder with his.

Her entire being was lost at the crossroads between anger and lust and if she didn't take a step in one direction or the other she was going to explode.

She was already leaning to one rather than the other and in the end she skipped the _step_ and instead _leapt_ into rage.

"You are such a-"

Fire warm lips cut her off and before she could think, before she could remember that just moments ago she was at the crossroads. And _Danger! Contents under extreme pressure!_

_High Voltage!_

Before any of her mind's well intentioned warnings could break into her consciousness, her body was already responding. Dishes clanked noisily into the wash basin as she threw her arms around him and tugged him closer. Suds and bubbles splashing into the air and floating lazily back down to land in brown hair and on wide fire-bender shoulders,

His hands were braced on the sink as he assaulted her mouth, his tongue slicing past her lips when she opened to him with a sigh. The heat and electric sparks were at critical levels like this and she desperately needed to be sated, extinguished with tongue and skin and touch.

She was sugar, melting under his heat. Feverish and moist.

Dishwater was soaking into his shirt from her hands and she was pulling him closer, lifting an ankle and looping it behind his knee until he was falling forward, pressing her into the stone basin, body flush with hers.

He untangled himself with a gasp, uprooting her from the floor with strong hands and lifting her under her ass. She was grinning at his display of dominance, ready to take him head on when realization sank in.

It sank in around the same time he flipped her over the lip of the basin and dumped her unceremoniously into the soapy water.

She sputtered, slipping against the side as she tried to clamber out.

"MAKO!" she yelled as he escaped around the corner. Her water whip missing him by mere inches.

He was absolutely infuriating. They had been dating for months now but the physical side of their relationship never went beyond kissing, heavy petting, and once-_once _hands exploring under layers of clothing and fireworks of pleasure.

She wanted more. But every time she tried to initiate something he would turn it around on her. Mako was a tease. A very sexy tease who made her think of _home_ and nights snuggled under the stars. He reminded her of evenings in front of the fire pit and roasted marshmallows- overcooked and blackened but warm and gooey underneath-sticking to her cheeks and tiny fingers. He made her feel warm, like happy memories that made her heart swell up until her throat was tight with emotion and a smile played at her lips.

He also made her feel like he deserved a good ass-kicking.

She caught up to him after her shower, storming to his room and knocking loudly.

He opened the door and calmly observed her. "Hi," he offered after a moment.

"Hi," she all but spat, her shoulders square and jaw tight.

He smiled at her and she could see the laughter, directed at her display, in his eyes. It deflated her, somewhat.

"I love you," he offered as if in apology, his hand rising up to cup her cheek. She was still too upset to give in to the urge to lean into his palm.

"Hey…" he prodded when she didn't respond, either verbally or physically.

Stubbornness reared up, angry and red in her chest.

"Then show me," she demanded, pouting like a child and knowing even while she did it that she probably looked ridiculous. A quirk of his lips confirmed her thoughts and suddenly she was raging again, nostrils practically smoking.

"How?" he asked quietly, serenely, as he brushed her still damp hair from her face.

Her pout disappeared and was replaced by an expression of such vulnerability, such innocence that Mako's heart ached.

"Make love to me," she whispered, her fingers catching in the frayed material of his scarf. It was a nervous habit that she had when things were getting too deep and she wasn't sure how to explain her feelings. Her eyes would land somewhere near his chin, away from what she called his 'danger zones' (mainly his eyes and lips) and she would fiddle with the red material.

It never failed to make his chest constrict and his heart pound.

"Korra," he swallowed thickly, "I don't think we're ready…"

She brushed past him and into the room, pushing the door shut behind her with a spiral of air. Blue eyes glared at him with determination.

Sometimes he can be too levelheaded and too much of a worrier and she has to take matters into her own hands. She'd show him that she's ready (_Agni, is she ready_) to explore this new area of their relationship and that this is what she wants. _Him_. All of him.

"I don't want to rush this, youmean too much to me."

"Look, I know you want to take it slow and I appreciate that but…You don't understand. I'm going to implode! I feel like I'm going to die when you aren't touching me and then when you do—_Spirits,_ Mako. I just want to be with you. You make me feel so…so…and then I don't know what I'm doing. I can't think about anything else and…"

_And this is Korra in a nutshell_, he thought. All the wisdom and power of a thousand lifetimes, the vessel of the Avatar and the maintainer of balance; and she was just a girl, a hopelessly brave, fumbling, ineloquent, obstinate girl. She was perfectly flawed, perfectly Korra.

And she had no idea how much he loved her. _Show me_, she had all but commanded.

"Make love to me, Mako," she looked defiantly into his amber eyes as she spoke and she could see the gears turning, could see him give in.

Her breath caught as he lunged for her, catching her around her waist and securing his lips against hers. He was all around her. Consuming like a blaze of fire over dry grass. He was pressing her down and heating her up until she was burning and bursting brighter than any star in any galaxy.

Clothes were torn and singed in a desperate attempt to press skin to skin as quickly as possible. Her wrappings may be unsalvageable but she couldn't think about that now, couldn't see ahead to the walk of shame back to her room in the morning to find a replacement for them, her arms crossed over her breasts to hide her cold hardened nipples from view of the acolytes milling about.

Right now, in his arms, she couldn't think at all.

He was lying over her, hands trailing fire over her skin as he slid his palm down from her jaw, over her neck, and between her breasts. He paused to suckle at her chest before continuing his movements. His hands were dry and overly warm and she was already sweating, already mewling at him as his fingers danced over her navel and down her abdomen before resting over her folds.

Just resting, not even touching. The warmth from his skin was enticing enough and he wasn't even touching her there yet. He was flint and she was steel. Together they were kindling a flame that she had never experienced before. It started in her gut and rang out to all five points of her body, pulsing and quivering.

He let the anticipation build and just as she was closing her eyes, just as she was sure that she would kill him or die trying if he didn't touch her soon. His fingers slipped into her, thumb circling her clit.

His jaw was slack and his mouth open, just the slightest bit, mimicking her expression and mirroring her moan as he watched her come undone under his hands.

Wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her and then quelled with a happy sigh.

He sat back, letting her recover for a moment and smiling at her when she held her arms out to him, beckoning him closer. He shifted on the mattress his hands and knees sinking into the downy bedding as he stretched out over her, aligning his body with hers and pressing their hips together, between her legs.

He dipped his head to capture her lips in long languid kisses that almost succeeded in distracting her from the hardness pressing against her core and the excitement bubbling in her belly.

"Are you sure?" he asked at last, their foreheads resting against each other.

"Yes," she whispered against his lips, shifting her hips and gripping his ass, tugging him forward until she could feel him entering her.

It felt different than she thought it would. Tighter and fuller and wet. It almost ached but not in an unpleasurable way, more like a heavy pressure.

Then he was moving and everything faded away except for skin and tingling nerves. Something was spiraling outwards, exploding within her and when his fingers found her clit again she was practically screaming. Overwhelmed by the warmth, the incandescent inferno, forming between their loins. A sea of flames that was at once quenching and devouring. On and on until she was only embers and ash.

She was only distantly aware of her name falling from his lips and the way his body rocked into hers roughly before stalling as he came. Her ears were still ringing from her orgasm and her body was still erupting in quakes and quivers of muscles that she was only newly acquainted with.

She came back to herself in pieces, having to rebuild after being broken down so entirely. When her eyes caught his she couldn't help but chuckle, sure that she wore the same awestruck and goofy expression on her own face. The laughter was catching, and soon they were shaking and short of breath, coming back together with gentle caresses that lent fuel to flames that had never been doused but only cooled temporarily.

In the morning they might find something stupid to argue about, they might even decide to stay miserable and angry for a few hours; but eventually, they would find their way to each other again.

And now, they had another outlet for their emotions when they became too great to contain. They had exultation and lovemaking and sparks.

It was the next evening, when Pema was handing them each a slice of fresh baked cherry pie that she was able to draw the closest comparison to their relationship. Not in words, because well, Korra had never been good with words. But with sensation, taste, and flavor.

Their love was like cherry pie. It was warm and comforting, sometimes burnt and a bit rough around the edges; perhaps with a hard layer of woven defenses and past pain on top, a dusting of sugar to sweeten the bite. But once you took the time to break into the crust you could reach the best part, the molten insides. It was tangy, sour and sweet all at once, bursting with flavor. So good that you wanted it to last forever, even if you knew you might end up with a temporary belly ache from time to time.

A bit of syrup dripped down her chin and she wiped at it with her fingers, her eyes catching Mako's as she bought the sticky pads of her fingertips to her mouth and licked them clean. She smirked as his golden eyes flared. His tongue darted out to smooth over his lips before he could cover the emotion away with a mask of cocky indifference.

Hot and cold.

They were push and pull, like water, and pulsing with _life,_ like fire. They were flickering and entrancing, soothing and volatile.

_He was her hearth and she was his home._

_And they would always find their way back to each other._


End file.
